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The European Union has made progress in designating new marine protected areas, both as part of the Natura 2000 network and through complementary national designations. As a result, marine protected area coverage more than doubled, to 12.3%, between 2012 and 2022. However, efforts will need to increase significantly to achieve the EU Biodiversity strategy target of protecting at least 30% of EU seas by 2030, while also ensuring that all protected areas are effectively managed. At present it appears unlikely that the terget will be met.

Figure 1. Marine protected area coverage in the EU, 2012-2022

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The conservation of coastal and marine areas is important for maintaining biodiversity and ensuring that ecosystems and their services are fully functional. Marine protected areas (MPAs) play a key role in conserving coastal and marine ecosystems, and provide significant economic and societal benefits supporting local livelihoods.

Designation of protected areas is an essential policy tool to halt biodiversity decline. One target of the EU Biodiversity strategy for 2030 is to legally protect and effectively manage a minimum of 30% of EU seas by 2030. Target 3 of the CBD’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework also includes a similar coverage target.

Over the last decade, the total area covered by marine protected areas in the EU has increased gradually, from 5.9% in 2012 to 12.3% in 2022. This is the result of both the expansion of the Natura 2000 network (a network of protected areas designated under the EU nature directives) and protected areas established through complementary national designations, as well as protected areas designated under the Regional Seas Conventions (RSC), namely Barcelona Convention, HELCOM & OSPAR.

Although this trend is positive, further expansion will be needed to reach the target of legally protecting at least 30% of EU’s seas by 2030. The current rate of designation must increase more than threefold compared to the progress made over the last decade.

The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 highlights the importance of building a truly coherent Trans-European network of protected areas through improving their connectivity. It will therefore be particularly important for the designation of new protected areas in EU’s seas to ensure that these areas are defined based on sound scientific analysis ensuring ecological representativity, coherence and connectivity.

Additionally, improving management effectiveness of individual marine protected areas and of their networks should become a major focus in the coming years. While no comprehensive information is available yet to provide an overview of how effectively managed European MPAs are, it will be essential to develop such indicators in the coming years to track progress in implementing the targets of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.

Figure 2. Marine protected area coverage in EU Member States, 2012-2022

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By 2022, several EU Member States had made significant progress in protecting their marine ecosystems through the designation of MPAs. Germany, Belgium and France have surpassed 30% coverage. Other countries such as the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland and Romania have expanded their networks of MPAs beyond 20%. Natura 2000 plays a very significant role in the MPAs networks in most countries, with complementary national designations adding to the networks in Sweden, Spain, Finland, Italy and Portugal.

While some progress in designating new MPAs could be observed in most Member States over the last 10 years, it has been slow in many countries. However, such differences also reflect the variances between the European marine regions with their diverse ecological conditions. While it is important for Member States to continue working at national level to define new MPAs, it is also crucial to ensure cooperation across European regional seas. This will support the development of a coherent network of MPAs across the EU and to achieve the joint target of protecting at least 30% of seas.